The bank has supported the development of the regions capital markets since 1970, having issued in multiple currencies and formats.

The growth of local currency bond markets is of strategic importance to developing countries in Asia, ADB Treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem said Tuesday. But the challenge often remains in sourcing funding with sufficient tenor to support ADBs long dated loans. With this 15-year bond issue, ADB is not only solving that mismatch, but also establishing a benchmark for other issuers to follow.

The bond issue, denominated in Indonesian rupiah but settled in U.S. dollars, was underwritten by JP Morgan as sole lead manager. The new issue bears a semi-annual coupon of 7.80%. The bonds were placed 70% in Europe and 30% in the Americas, with institutions, banks, and retail investors participating.

Proceeds from the bonds will be mobilized to support ADBs local currency lending in Indonesia. In 2017, ADB committed $2.035 billion in sovereign and nonsovereign loans, technical assistance, and grants to Indonesia. Indonesia is among ADBs largest sovereign borrowers.

The bank is a regular borrower in the mainstream international bond markets but has also led issuance in developing Asia as part of its efforts to promote domestic bond markets as an alternative to bank lending. So far this year, ADB has raised $180 million from bond issues in Kazakhstan and the Philippines.